The European Parliament vote during a plenary session held, on Wednesday in Strasbourg, on the EU-Morocco agreement including the products from Western Sahara are an “act of utter treachery” which breaches the decisions of the European Court of Justice which ruled on the “distinct” and “separate” aspect of Western Sahara territory, said a diplomatic source in Brussels.

The European Parliament has approved the EU-Morocco agreement (amendment of the agricultural agreement), in a vote that followed a process vitiated by “irregularities,” violating the decision of the European Court of Justice issued on 21 December 2016 which ruled on the “distinct” and “separate” aspect of Western Sahara territory, and subsequently the non-applicability of the agreement of this territory.

In a statement to APS, an Algerian diplomatic source in Brussels has called the vote a “disastrous day for the European institutions and for the international and European right.”

“This real treachery committed today in the European Parliament grossly transgresses and crumbles the ECJ judgments, which ruled on the” distinct” and “separated” nature of Western Sahara territory,” added the same source.

Parliament’s vote came after a long process of negotiations between the EU and the Moroccan authorities to circumvent the CJEU ruling, in particular bypassing the requirement of the consent of Western Sahara people, as required by the judgment of the Court of Justice.

The European Parliament also voted on a “biased” report validating the EU-Morocco agreement drawn up by Former Rapporteur, Patricia Lalonde, while the French MEP was forced to resign in early December 2018.

An investigation against her was opened following information revealing her unannounced membership of in the board of directors of the pro-Moroccan lobbying foundation, EuroMedA.

The vote also took place without any public debate during the EP plenary session, after the rejection by ten votes of difference, of the request made by the Verts / ALE Group to hold a debate before the vote , on the agenda of the 14 January plenary session of the European Parliament.